Love Me Good
by Sis21K
Summary: Neville has finally got his nerve up to propose to Luna, but it doesn't go quite how he expected.


**Disclaimer: I have published this story on another site.**

**Another disclaimer: I don't own these characters.**

**Enjoy!**

The leaves crunched under Neville's feet as he walked. He kept glancing over at her. She seemed to almost…glide. A faint breeze rustled the leaves in the woods. Neville used to be terrified of the Forbidden Forest, but not anymore. He was an adult now. The fluttering orange and red leaves seemed lovely to him. He liked those colors. She did too; in fact, she liked them so much that she was wearing them.

She had sent him a letter a week ago, saying she was coming to visit. Even though he had prepared for it, his heart still gave a magnificent flutter when he heard her tapping softly on his office door.

"Luna," he had said softly, taking in her swirling red and orange dress and earrings that looked like big red droplets of a frozen liquid. Her golden hair swished around her shoulders and she smiled.

"Hello, Neville," Luna had said.

"Shall we go for a w-walk?" he asked nervously.

"Sounds lovely."

And now here they were, strolling through the Forbidden Forest. The sun was slowly setting. Neville couldn't stop looking at Luna. He shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind and Luna noticed.

"Nargles bothering you?" she asked him softly.

Neville chuckled. "No, just trying to clear my head." He had long since accepted Luna's belief in odd creatures. After a moment of increasingly awkward silence he cleared his throat. "Did any of the students see you?"

"No, they must have all been at dinner. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, I-I don't know," Neville said.

"Is my dress a bit too loud, do you think? Is that why you were wondering?"

"Oh, no…no, really Luna. It's beautiful." Neville really meant it, but by Luna's silence he could tell she wasn't sure. "I don't know why I asked. I suppose if they saw you, it would be the topic of gossip for months. They all know that I—well, that is to say, we…er…"

"I understand. It makes it harder to work, I'm sure, when they're all thinking about their teacher being in love."  
Neville reddened. Luna's usual blunt way of speaking made him want to smile. Seeing those little quirks show made him feel better than when one of his plants popped out of the ground. It felt right. It just made him love her even more.

They kept walking. Luna reached for his hand. "Your hands are cold," she mentioned.

Neville laughed. "So are yours."

They smiled at each other and kept walking in the quiet. Neville's mind was racing. Now was the time to do something he had been planning for months. His left hand touched a small box in his pocket and took a deep breath.

He pulled Luna gently to a stop. "Luna," he said, and his voice squeaked. Luna smiled and touched his cheek. "Do you remember what I said to you just after we started…er…you know…"

"Falling in love?" she murmured. Neville laughed nervously. "Yes, I do. It was very clever. I remember." She smiled and stared off into the distance. "You said, 'Do you know why I like your name, Luna?' and I said, 'You mean, Luna? So you can call me Loony?' I still remember how people in school used to call me that. I never really minded, but it was still rather rude. Anyways, then you told me that you meant my last name. 'Lovegood.' I asked, 'No, why?' and then you said…" she paused and closed her eyes with a smile. "You said, 'Because you can love really good.'"

Neville blushed. It didn't seem like such a clever line now, but he plowed on. "Yes. That's what I said. And I still mean it now, Luna. And I love you. I don't care what other people think about you—not even my students. D-do you remember the battle? I think every day of the people who died. There were kids, just like us, that died. In a single moment, their chances for love were gone. They each had a whole life ahead of them." Neville hadn't planned this speech, but now he couldn't stop. A tear dripped down his cheek, but he didn't care. "That day I learned that we only have one life to live, and we have to make the most of it. I don't want to reach the end of my life and regret not showing my love for someone that I really, truly love." Neville gulped. "I am in love with you, and it's good. It's very good."

Luna wrapped her arms around him, and he breathed in the scent of her hair and composed himself. Finally, he pulled away and fumbled in his pocket, pulling out the tiny box. Luna gave a little gasp as Neville got down on one knee.

"Luna," he said, opening the box, "Will you marry me?"

Luna clasped her hands together and beamed. "Yes," she whispered softly, and Neville gave a sigh of relief. "But Neville," she said staring at the box, "There's nothing there."

Neville started. The ring was gone! He pushed aside leaves that littered the ground and strained his eyes for something shiny. How could he, in the most important moment, mess it up so horribly? He groaned inwardly and kept scanning the ground. He had wanted this to be perfect. He had wanted to gently slip the ring onto her finger and then walk back to the castle, hand in hand, feeling the metal band against his skin. He had wanted to sit late into the night, sipping tea and talking about their wedding, or just sitting quietly in each other's company. Now everything was ruined…

"Neville, I think I found it," came Luna's voice. She picked up the ring from the ground and rubbed it on her dress to clean it. "Here," she said, handing it to him, "Would you like to try again?"

"Yes," Neville breathed gratefully, and got down on one knee again. "Luna, will you marry me?"

"Of course, Neville," she said, and smiled when she saw the silver ring in its box. Neville slid it onto her finger.  
Luna wrapped her arms around him and he dropped the box. She raised her eyes to look into his face and Neville seemed to be falling. He felt her soft lips touch his, and then the world spun around them as they kissed for so long that years seemed to pass in a moment. Finally he pulled away and gasped a little. "Shall we go back to the castle?"

"I think I would like that," Luna replied, and as the setting sun cast the shadow of trees and leaves onto their backs, the couple strolled back towards Hogwarts, hand in hand.

**Thanks for reading! Reviews would be awesome!**

**-Sis21K**


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